


“His Origins”

by Paperpage



Category: Dayshift at Freddy’s, Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Bad Science, Other, Paranormal, Prequel, Science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-10-18 01:03:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17571353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paperpage/pseuds/Paperpage
Summary: A theoretical prequel to DSAF. My idea of how Henry became obsessed with death and the “Joy of Creation.”





	1. Chapter 1

His head had gotten too close. In fact, he had gotten too close.   
I had told him to stay away from that lion. That it wasn’t just a giant cat he could go over and pet, even if it was “tame”.  
How idiotic. It seems even my own son was fallible to the same mistakes every kindergartener made.  
Their curiosity, their annoying babbling, their endless slew of questions….. both fascinating and moronic.  
I am always grateful that I trained that out of my son quickly.   
Yes….. almost like training an animal. If he misbehaved… a crack of the whip did fine.  
It is a shame, however. He would have been a wonderful assistant to me for my experiments. He would have been useful.  
I do not know how I will cover for his death. I will almost certainly be charged with neglect for leaving him alone with the lion.  
I have already cleaned up the mess they had made. I’ve also shot the lion, so cleaning its bloodied maw won’t be an issue any longer.  
Such a waste for the show. I won’t be able to draw in more subjects because of this.  
But, this is a simply a misstep. I am sure that I can convince the local police that I had no consequence on David’s death.  
I can blame it on the lion-tamer.   
I am Doctor Henry Miller, and I will make the impossible, possible.”  
Finishing the recording, I placed the newly recorded tape onto my desk.   
I stretch in my chair briefly, before standing up and leaving my tent.  
It was dark outside, almost unnaturally so. I could barely make out the shapes of the other circus tents in the distance.  
I noticed the air was crisp and cool as well. Peculiar, even for early September in New Hampshire.  
I decided to prowl around meaninglessly, to try and clear my head of today’s events.  
As I was wandering the fairgrounds, I felt a pair of eyes on me. Something boring into my skull.  
Anytime I turned around, there was no one there. It seemed someone who was not there was watching me.  
I soon stopped when I realized I was at the main tent, where my son had died not only a few hours earlier.  
An almost gnawing feeling of anxiety developed in the back of my head, how irritating.  
I slinked into the main tent, feeling suddenly drawn to its presence.  
I felt the curtains behind me swiftly shut as I towards the middle of the tent.  
I’d twisted myself around from shock when I saw something… intriguing.  
Standing in front of me was a small, pale figure. Its form seeming to look like a child…. my child.  
He looked translucent, and seemed to have permanent tear stains flowing down his face.  
As I tried to approach him, he seemed to back away, screaming silently in fear.   
“Davey. It’s alright. It’s me, your papa.” I coaxed.  
This did not work on the apparition, instead it seemed to want to corner itself as far away from me as possible.  
How pathetic.  
I put on my trained smile, and sat down on the ground. Patting at my knee, I tried to convince David to come over to me.   
“Davey, it’s okay. The lion isn’t here anymore. It can’t hurt you anymore.” I said with a sickenly sweet tone.  
I watched as my son slowly made his way towards me, an air of uneasiness hanging around him like a cloud.   
The second he was near me, he tried to give me a hug, but only managed to phase through me.  
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his feeble attempts for comfort as he dejectedly picked himself back up from the ground.  
While I was watching him, I suddenly had a question pop into my mind. What was my son doing here?  
Indeed, I had always thought that the idea of an afterlife was archaic. That there was nothing after death was a plausible ideology that I had believed in for years now.  
But this…. this changes everything. My son’s very corporeal existence challenges everything I’ve known about death.  
He is the start of a new thesis. A brand new theory on the afterlife. A new experiment.  
I couldn’t help but have a toothy grin on my face as I peered down at the enigma, my enigma, in front of me.  
“If I truly can make the impossible possible, then this is my greatest obstacle yet.” I’d declared.  
I turned quickly and exited the main tent, my son worriedly following me like a small dog.  
With a wild grin on my face, I announced: “I am Dr. Henry Miller, and I will abolish death.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry breaks into a strangers house with his son.

“It has been a week since David’s passing, and in that time I have learned that every hypothesis on death have been acutely inaccurate.  
Last week, only hours after my son had his head squished in the jaws of lion, I discovered that he was still walking among the living, as a spirit.  
Indeed. His continuous existence is a spectacle, and an outcome that I or no other scientist has ever recorded in history.  
Ever since I had found him, I have taken it upon myself to observe and analyze his behavior. I have found that his spirit only appears at night, seemingly warping underground by the time dawn arrives.  
As it is mid September, this only gives me around nine and a half hours to plan and experiment, as I have my circus to run during the day.  
This has left me sleep deprived, and my troupe has shown concern over my wellbeing, something I know they truly couldn’t care less for.  
It doesn’t matter. I am determined to understand why my son is still living among us, and to understand the world after death.  
To elaborate on my observations, I have gathered that my son’s spirit is a solitary, fearful creature. While it does exhibit some of my son’s core personality, such as his curiosity, cunning, and playfulness; it seems to mostly be ruled by a sense of crippling depression and anxiety.  
An example of this behavior is his unbearable clinginess. Every night he has teleported right next to me, no matter where we werein the fairgrounds, and would always stay within inches next to me, never wanting to leave my side. He tends to try to hide his face into my legs, a basic instinct of any young child filled with fear.  
He has been irksome, nearly freezing me to death with his incessant neediness and lack of personal space.  
However, his clinginess has been able to help me with my research. I don’t have to worry about observing something that will run away.  
This was most useful when I decided to see how he would react if I were to have him appear in the show tent again, and the result was fascinating.  
When my son’s spirit appeared in the tent, it seemed to almost go under a metamorphosis. His soul darkened into a deep gray, and his body slowly seemed to morph into an entirely different creature: a lion cub.  
When I had tried to approach him, he mutely roared and tried to claw at me, acting almost feral. When he realized that he could do nothing to hurt me, he fled from me, almost pouncing back into the ground to the unknown purgatory.  
After a couple of hours, at around three a.m., he rose back from the ground, and was back to his normal, shivering self.  
I was amazed. I am intrigued by the notion that a soul can take the form of the killer of its physical body. I am curious, as I wonder if this is applied to all deaths or if this is specific only to souls who suffered a traumatic death?  
It is a question that I shall explore more after I find the purgatory the my son so frequently retreats to.  
I am Dr. Henry Miller, and I will abolish death.”  
Clicking the stop button on the recorder, I yawned and rubbed my eyes awake. I’ve only been getting around 2-3 hours of sleep a night, and I have been starting to feel the effects of the said lack of sleep. I know that I’m due for a crash soon.  
I merely glance to my side as a small wisp forms on the right side of my chair, then watch as it transforms into the form of my son.  
He looks up at me, timidly fixating his transparent eyes into mine. He seems to know what I want to do tonight, as he gives me a look of tepid anticipation.  
“Son.” He flinches away, he never liked when I said that, as it usually meant I was going to make him do something.  
“Davey, I have a request of you.” I said in a firm tone. David looked down, he still hasn’t forgiven me for forcing him to appear in the show tent.  
“Davey, honey, I need your help with this.” I appealed cutely, almost retching from how sweet it sounded.  
David frowned at me and turned around with his arms crossed, clearly not falling for my “nice” dad voice.  
Of course, I really must be sleep deprived. David works better when he is bargained.  
“I see you will not listen to what I have to say. But, maybe we can strike a deal with your old man, hmm?” I conferred.  
David turned his head a little, giving me a skeptical side-eye. Good, I’ve got his attention.  
“David, if you do what I ask of you, I won’t make you go into the show tent ever again.” I smiled, faking it the best I could.  
David turned around fully, a thoughtful look on his face. Before he could finish thinking, I asked: “So, is it a deal?”  
I held out my hand, trying to look business like to appeal to his child mind. He paused for a second, before reaching out and “shaking” my hand. (It was more of his hand phasing in and out of mine.)  
I truly grinned then. “Excellent” I growled. Children are wonderfully easy to manipulate. I retract my hand, and then I told David my request.  
“Davey, I know there is another world below us, a world that only you so far have been able to go. If there is any way, I ask that you take me there as well, tonight.” I ordered.  
David looked shocked at my order. He started to glance around nervously, a feeling of uncertainty that could be felt by anyone that saw him.  
Tentatively, David signaled me to follow him, and we walked out of my tent.  
We traveled through the dark, eventually leaving the fairgrounds and my circus behind. We walked for a couple of blocks down the road, following the lights of the neighborhood houses in the distance and the landlines.  
I noticed as we were walking that the landlines were sparkling and shimmering, almost breaking as sparks flew from them and almost landed on us down below.  
How peculiar, I knew the town we were in wasn’t exactly upper class, but I didn’t believe that it was this dingy.  
I was soon distracted from my thoughts as my son stopped in front of a house at the start of the neighborhood.  
My son looked around cautiously, before signaling me to follow him again and walking through the door.  
Surprised at my son’s breaking and entering for a moment, I soon followed suit, except I pick-locked the door instead.  
Once I was inside, I gazed around the home, finding my son sitting in front of the tv in the living room.  
I tiptoed over to him, unsure whether the house was empty of its residents or not.  
My son looked at me and gestured toward the fob on the television, wanting me to turn it on.  
I felt a prick of irritation at the gesture, but decided to ignore it as I did what he wanted.  
The tv turned on with a blast of volume, loudly blaring the news for the whole town to hear. My son agitatedly signed my to change the channel, which I did wholeheartedly, not wanting to be discovered.  
I kept on flipping through the channels at lightning speed until my son held out his hand to say “stop.”  
We had stopped on a channel with only static, loud buzzing feeling the room like a swarm of flies.  
My son takes a big sigh, as if preparing himself for something I don’t know of. He then places his hand onto the tv screen.  
Rapidly, his body gradually becomes brighter and more opaque. The tv starts to hum softly, crescendoing more as each second passes.  
The lights in the house start flickering on and off and on and off and on and off- The whole house is starting to hum, no, more like rumble as every electrical appliance in the house goes haywire.  
My mind is racing as this madness surrounds, surrounds and engulfs me. An almost strange feeling of awe and power fills me as I watch in awe of the power my son has.  
David has been severely focusing on his task the whole time. He turns his head to me, and holds out his hand.  
My heart is racing from both the electricity and excitement, I was about to be the first mortal to step foot into the world of the undead.  
Shakily, I take my son’s hand, and feel myself fade and compact before stumbling over onto the ground.  
I manage to sit myself up and find that I am barely able to soak in what I am seeing.  
It was same house as before, but something’s different. There was no light, or no colors.  
I felt a pair of small hands, one on my shoulder and one on my left hand. It was David. He silently helped me back up, and walked over to the door, which he curiously opened this time.  
Still addled from teleporting, I dully followed David outside. I was met with an extraordinary sight.  
This place we were in was exactly like our world, but instead of people inhabiting it, it was millions of spirits.  
Tall spirits, short spirits, even some animal spirits. They all were chatting, yet looked lost and bemused. Some were crying and screaming, others were joyful or at the least hopeful.  
Then they faced northwest and started laughing. I looked in that direction from the house’s porch and saw that they were laughing at my circus.  
A strange, disgusting feeling came over me, a feeling that I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t believe it, but I was overwhelmed by the sight in front of me, the ramifications that this discovery would have on not just science but the world.  
I slid down to the ground, trying to take deep breaths as I tried to process what was happening around me.  
My son stood in front of me, a sympathetic look on his face. I look up as I hear him clear his throat: “Welcome to the Flipside, father.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! For those of you who are new, my name is Paperpage. I'm still kind of new to writing fanfic so don't be afraid to politely critique me if there is something I can work on. I apologize if this chapter isn't the best, as I wrote this while sleep deprived and I honestly was having a bit of trouble writing it. Regardless, I hope you guys enjoy it! Have a good day and a good reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry starts forming a wicked idea.

I am stunned into silence. For once, I felt as if my mind had fallen into a state of stasis. I am truly here. I made it into the realm of dead, The Flipside.   
But, it is not dead. In fact, it seems to be as lively as our own world.   
The spirits have their own lives on The Flipside. We, human beings, do have a spirit. We can live beyond death.   
I let go of an old breath, not realizing that I had been holding it in for awhile. I look down and notice my son’s hand on mine.   
I wearily glance at him, noticing his face is etched with concern. I never understood why he was always so concerned for me, I was and am a terrible father to him. Noticing my quick glance, he takes it as a sign to speak again.  
“Are you okay, father?” He asks quickly. Still confused and feeling a little annoyed, I make my point by standing up and taking a deep breath.  
“Yes, David. I am fine, you do not have to worry about me.” I recite nonchalantly. David looks at me skeptically before following me as I make my way to the railing on the porch.   
We look out over the porch and watch the spirits go about their everyday(?) lives. The longer we watched them, the more it dawned on me how little different life after death is to life on Earth.  
The Christians, the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Skih’s, all of the religions of the world seem to have gotten it only half right, Christianity being debatably the closest one to the truth.   
There is a life after death, but it is not a heaven or a hell; it is a purgatory. It is our continued lives after the death of our corporeal bodies, it is nearly identical to the one we live on Earth….. At that thought, I felt something strange, I felt let down. How disappointing.  
I feel a creeping sense of boredom trickle into my mind, something David picks up on. He jumps on top of the railing so that he can speak with me at eye level.  
“What do you think of it?” David asks. I contemplate for a moment, before deciding to give him my honest opinion: “It’s boring, to be frank.”  
David nods, agreeing with my statement. He speaks again “Yeah, I know. It was neat for a little bit but…” He looks down at his feet. “... it is really boring here.” He admits.  
David now looks out over the railing as well, almost talking to himself: “I’ve overheared the other spirits talking about Heaven, it might be real but, I don’t know.”  
I perk up at the word, before questioning David: “David, does Heaven really exist?” He shrugs at me, an unusually casual gesture for him.   
“I don’t know, father.” He replies simply.   
“But, I do know that everyone’s bored here. And that the only thing that makes them happy is something funny, like the circus. And-” He babbles on.  
I ignore him, and stare at my circus in the horizon, its colorful hue standing out in the drab purgatory. I feel an idea starting to form into my mind.  
“FATHER!!” David yells at the top of his lungs, trying to get my attention. I glare at him dangerously, and he backs up in fear, almost falling off the railing in the process.  
After steadying himself, David clears his throat and says: “I was saying that maybe you can find a way to help this place.”   
I stare at my son blankly, holding back the urge to say what a stupid idea it was. David nervously shuffles, before continuing: “I mean, if you want to. Everyone’s so bored here. They don’t have jobs or games or anything. Maybe you can help them and give them something to do?”  
David looks at me timidly, unsure if he would get a response from me. His question is a silly one, but it has now spurred in me a wonderful idea.  
Indeed, these spirits are truly bored. These are people that have nothing to do, nothing to stimulate them. Theirs and by extension our existence are the same. If life after death is the same as life on Earth, than “death” doesn’t truly exist. It’s only the decaying of the body.  
If death doesn’t truly exist, then theoretically we can live on forever. We- no I, (for who would listen to me?) can find a way to keep the soul on Earth after passing, then we can live on for an eternity. Immortality, or “undeath”, could be the most wonderfully terrible discovery in all of science. It could be my legacy.  
I feel myself smirk as this idea constructs itself in my mind. David frowns at me: “Father, why are you smirking like that?” I look at him pensively, wiping the smirk off my face and hiding any previous emotion I did show. I ruffle his hair gently.  
“It is nothing, Davey. I just got an amazing idea to help you and these spirits.” I reassure him absently, a hint of false enthusiasm thrown in for good measure.   
I stop ruffling his hair, and make my way to the door of the house. “In fact, I’m ready to go now. I need to get back immediately so that we can get started on helping these… people.” I declare.  
David smiles hesitantly, before blindly following me into the house. He touches the screen again and teleports us back into the house. The police were there, and we had to run three miles in the dark in order to reach the circus without getting caught.   
It was difficult, as David kept on breaking electronics whenever he went near them, something I want to investigate soon.  
We return to the circus right before dawn. I am exhausted, I feel as if my lungs are both melting and are being stabbed at the same time. I look over to David, who seems to be losing some of his solid form and is returning to a more translucent state.  
I stumble over to my desk and to my tape recorder. I have to record everything that has happened tonight, while everything is fresh in my mind. Right before I press the record button, I feel my body slump onto the table. I curse myself as I faint and lose consciousness on my desk.  
—————————————————-  
David watches as his father suddenly falls asleep on his desk. He shakes his head like the troupe people did whenever his dad does something crazy.   
Still filled with a little bit of static electricity and somewhat corporeal, David grabs the blanket from his father’s bed and places it around his shoulders.   
Seeing a small ray of light, David notices from the slit of the tent that it is dawn. At that sign, David realizes it’s time for him to go.  
He turns to his father. “Good night, father.” He says in a hushed tone, although he doubts he hears him. After that, he goes to the middle of the tent and returns to The Flipside, hoping that he didn’t start something terrible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhhhhh I got it done! I apologize if this chapter isn't very good, I was having major writer's block with this one. I wanted to make it longer but I decided that I wanted have the other half of this be ch.4 instead. Hope you guys are fine with that. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, have a good day and a good reading!


	4. Chapter 4

“I have done it. I have found a way to keep souls in our realm.  
Ever since I have returned from the afterlife, the “Flipside”, I have been attempting to find a way for spirits to return to our realm.   
Originally, I had attempted to beckon the spirits of those from the town, having my son warp to and fro near the graveyard to see if he could bring spirits to our world.   
It did not work. In hindsight, it was a fairly stupid idea, a theorem that sprung from my mind after only an hour’s sleep. It matters not. It answered a question I had, namely that spirits can’t return to this world with other spirits. It helped me narrow my options, the answer to my son’s incorporeal presence was to be found here, on Earth.  
I’d stumbled about the next few days, running experiment after experiment, trying to discover how my son had returned and is able to return each night. Then, last week, I had found what I was looking for.  
My troupe had become agitated. They were desperate to continue the circus, and to travel west. They wanted to practice their routines the next day, so I had to clean up.  
When my son had died, I had to dispose of his body as quickly as I could. In a moment of dimness, I had decided to hide his body in one of the cannons. It was a miracle that no one had fired them over the last two weeks. I would’ve forced who ever fired it to clean it up and to not speak of the incident, silence them even….  
That night, my son and I had snuck over to the cannons, and I started to empty it of his remains. Suddenly, as I was cleaning out the cannon, my son evaporated. This was something that had never occurred before, as he always stays close to my side.   
I scoured the tent for about five minutes, deciding then to stuff his body back into the cannon. Right as I did so, he came back; looking confused.  
Intrigued, I emptied the cannon again, and witnessed his disappearance. I repeated the process five times, the same result occurring every time.  
I was thrilled. I realized then that I was an inch away from discovering how to bring back the dead from the afterlife. I left my son’s remains in the cannon and took it to my tent. I lied to my troupe the next day, telling them it needed repairs. Idiots.  
My research progressed rapidly, and the next day I was able to hypothesis what made my son stay in this world: metal.   
Whenever a person passes away, they are usually encased in a wooden coffin, so that they may rest in peace in the afterlife. This is one reason why we do not see spirits in our present time, because we are using a material that doesn’t attract them to their old bodies. Of course, flesh merged with steel, steel merged with flesh.  
I tested this as soon as I could, starting with some of the rabbits in my circus. I had bought a small, steel tool box just for the experiment. However, the rabbits’ souls did not return when I had placed their bodies in the tool box, leading me to the conclusion that animals do not have souls as we do, or that they cannot be pulled back as a human soul can be.  
After that experiment, I knew what I had to do. I knew that in order for me to see if I had discovered immortality, I had to take the next step.  
The next morning, after a rehearsal, I went over to one of the trapeze dancers, and asked if she’d like to go to dinner. She was a ditz, and gladly took my offer.   
That night, I walked her out of the fairgrounds and we made our way to the back of restaurant. She wasn’t satisfied with our destination, but it mattered little. She was soon contented with my choice. I helped her cut with the knife.  
It was a shame. She was a good dancer, and good sensory stimulation for the audience. However, she ended up far more useful dead. She proved my hypothesis correct.   
I had hidden a part of her, a finger, in the toolbox, to see if her soul would still come back if only a part of the body was encased in a steel container. It worked.   
When the troupe asked about her the next day, I simply stated that she had a family emergency and needed to leave the circus for a while. They were skeptical, but they complied to agree with me. Little do they know that she will return soon.   
I’m currently building an automation for her soul to reside in. Not only will she be back, she will be able to live on forever. She will be the evidence of undeath. Soon, the world will know my legacy.   
I am Dr. Henry Miller, and I will show the world the Joy of Creation.”  
I pressed the button on the recorder, and places it on his desk. I rub my eyes, and run my hand tiredly through my hair, losing myself in my thoughts.   
It was currently around midnight. My sleeping patterns were never good, so to say, but pulling these near constant all nighters were starting to take a toll on me.   
Hiding a cannon in my tent, asking a girl out for dinner, thinking that either of those were a good idea, it was all very uncharacteristic of me. While the troupe may see it as a way of grieving for me, they may become suspicious.   
I can’t let them find out what I am doing. They would have me arrested and ridiculed as a mourning madman. This would not do, as it would retract the progress I have made. No… I have to start acting “normal” again. I’ll have to have the circus begin traveling again, by tomorrow even. With that thought, I opened my eyes and shifted my gaze over to the cannon. I realized that I was going to have to clear the cannon finally tonight, so that nobody would ask where that went as well.  
I plod over to cannon, and begin to empty David’s rotting husk of a body into a trash bag. Strange, he hasn’t appeared at all tonight. He’s been gone for the past week.   
It doesn’t matter, I do not need David anymore. I can just kill whomever I need for my research. He is now useless.  
As I almost emptied the cannon, I saw a dim, illuminating light out of the corner of my eye. I felt a sudden chill as it charged towards me. I looked to the side, seeing my son’s furious face racing towards me, about to attack me.   
I sit on my knees, staring at my son; unimpressed, as he tried to punch me in the face, fresh tears on his face. We both knew that he was doing nothing.  
“Thank you, Davey.” I mutter. David pauses, looking up at me with anguished confusion. “You helped me. You showed me your world and how to access it. You showed me the Joy of Creation. Thank you.” I feel my well worn grin return, a feeling of euphoria flooding my head. David shudders and steps back, begging silently for mercy.   
I don’t say anything, instead I scoop out the last of his remains, and watch as he screams in agony, his soul melting and simmering away like steam. At last, nobody stands in my way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, the story continues. I still seem to be struggling with this one a lot for some reason. Oh well, I plan on ending it next chapter as of late. Apologies if I rushed the end of the chapter, I plan on rewriting this whole thing when I have some more experience with writing. Also, I’m gonna try to get the last chapter out next Wednesday or Thursday, as I’m going to Spain next Thursday for spring break! I’ll be less active during that week, but will be thinking of you guys! I’ll make an announcement on my message board so everyone will hopefully see it. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Have a good day and a good reading!


	5. “His Origins” Ch. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter of this mini-series.

“The circus is gone.  
The police had finally noticed the pattern of killings in each town it has stopped in, the same number of killings that each town has had, and even the same, broad age group: children.  
It seems even I had fallen for the same mistakes as some serial killers have before me: I have made a signature way of killing my victims. Make no mistake, for I do not see myself as a serial killer, but it appears that luring children as a clown and stabbing them, while effective for the most part, has left the police a trail for them to follow.   
However, I am no dullard. I had a sneaking suspicion that they were following me, so I simply let them follow it. Follow it and follow it into circles. Eventually, I was able to confuse them enough that I could plant in a replacement suspect, the lion tamer.   
Quickly, they arrested the man in my stead, and I got to personally watch as they gave him the electric chair. Wonderful. He was a useless drunkard, and had no place in my plans anyways. However, despite not finding any evidence of my wrongdoings, the police refuse to allow me to reopen the circus. They reason that because of how long the circus ran and how many children died while it was running, it would be insensitive to continue it while those families were grieving...  
How annoying.  
My circus has been shut down by foreseeable circumstances that I could have prevented if I was less… human, less predictable. However, this is a minor misstep, and in some ways I am glad that the circus has shut down. It will let me move forward with my research.  
While the circus was a good foundation for my research, I realize that I had limited myself with its schedule. The subjects of my experiments could only come in for one show, for one day of a week. This was my only opportunity to gather them all in one place, to obtain more subjects. It was exhausting, having to perform for them so they could follow me into a different tent. Then having to run the whole circus and make sure all of the performers were healthy for the next performance.  
No… as much I am thankful for all I have learned under the guise of this show, and from my son, I am relieved to be moving on from it. I, like I did with my son, I will bury this circus and let it be forgotten from history. I will make sure that no one will associate it with me. Rather, I’d let the world know me as the one who showed them the Joy of Creation.  
In regards to my next plans… I have an idea. It came to me during my travels west. I noticed these peculiar establishments, diners, for kids and families. Most of them were crude, cheaply decorated places with bland food and poorly made animal suits. Yet, whenever we drove near one, I saw crowds of children outside of the buildings, eagerly running into the restaurant. It always seemed so busy…  
It’s perfect.  
With a circus, I had limited access to subjects, but a restaurant… That is an entirely different story. I could draw in many more children on a daily basis rather than the once a week business with the circus. And with one of those animal costumes, I would be able to remain anonymous. It also would be less work than with a circus. I would be able to do so much more with less. It’s perfect.”  
*Crash!!!  
I pause the recording for a moment, my head swiveling towards the direction of the noise. Before going outside to investigate, I say one last sentence.   
“I am Dr. Henry Miller, and I will show the world the Joy of Creation.”  
I place the recorder onto the table a little forcibly, before slowly rising from my desk and walking out of my tent.   
I scoured the lot from the front of my tent, attempting to find movement in the inky darkness. I almost entertained the notion that it was my son again, before waving the thought away. I went over to the back of my tent, where I found something… strange.  
Behind my tent was an overturned trash can (which I didn’t have) and a purple… thing. I’m not sure what it is, I honestly have no clue what I am looking at. It(?) opens the two eyes it apparently has, and looks up at me, mirroring the confusion I was feeling. We both stared at each other dumbly for about a minute before it finally reacted.  
“I- uh, hello there, old sport.” It uttered nervously with a distinct New York accent. The creature seemed to get up rigidly, standing up to its full height. I almost forget my manners, amazed that it could even speak, before responding: “Hello.”   
An awkward silence descends between us. The creature seems to rub its hands together, a sign of a modesty and anxiety. Human modesty and anxiety. Yet it didn’t look human, it looked more like an alien or a cryptid if some sorts. I decided to be blunt.  
“What are you?” I asked in a straightforward manner. The creature seemed to almost brighten up at the question, and almost gained a semblance of confidence before speaking.   
“Why, I’m an aubergine man, Dr. Miller!” It exclaimed factually.   
“...Interesting…” is all I say after a moment, choosing to ask later why the creature knew my name. I look the “man” up and down, giving him a once over. I was curious about this thing, having never seen anything like him before. However, before I can think about him more, I realize that he had been talking.  
“Doc, doc? Are ya listening to me?” He waved his giant hand in front me, trying to catch my attention. “Apologies, creat- er-“ He interrupts me and holds his hand out to me: “William, sir. William Afton!” I wearily glance at his hand before giving the man a handshake. I observed that his hands were almost mit like while shaking them.   
How untypical. Yet that seems to be the word that describes this man entirely. He began to rattle on once more to me.   
“So, as I was saying. I was wondering if you wanted to be business partners?”  
...What?  
“Business partners?” I questioned, feeling a little lost. “Yeah! I overheard that you were wanting to start a restaurant, and I want to help you manage it!” The man cheerfully explained. I glowered at him through my smile before rejecting his offer.  
“No thank you, William. Although I would have appreciated you being a freak in my circus, I do not need help with running the restaurant. Besides, you’re a young man with I presume a good talent and a family, why not be with them than with an old man like me?” I drawled in the kindest voice I could fake.  
I watched as William’s face fell, and looked at the ground dejectedly.   
“I… don’t have a family.” He whispered shamefully. I widened my eyes in mock surprise, trying to hide my malicious thoughts as he spoke.   
“I’m an orphan. I’ve never had a mother or a father before.” He explained, looking at me with sad, almost puppy like eyes. “I don’t have anything to go back to.”  
I don’t say anything right away, thinking. This person… this creature… it is weak. I note the tattered state of its clothes and the malnourished state of its body. At the condition this creature is living in, it would be like any other living being: desperate. Normally, I would never think of letting anyone “in” on my plans, my experiments. However, “William” seems different. He seems simple, easily manipulated. As long as I treat him kindly, feed him, and convince him to believe that what I am doing is for the good of mankind, then I should be golden. I could have him be my lackey.  
I look up and smile widely at William: “You know what, William? I have changed my mind. You will be my business partner.”   
Suddenly, I am almost tackled off the ground as the giant rushed over and gave me a big hug. I glare at William, making sure to communicate that I would kill him if he ever tried to do that again. He gets a frightened look on his face, and places me down gently before stepping back to give me space. I brush myself off before signaling him to my tent.  
“Dr. Miller, you want me in there?” William asked, a quizzical look on his face. I coax him: “Yes, William. We have much to discuss tonight. I have big plans for us tonight, and I want us to get started as soon as we can.”  
William excitedly follows me into the tent, not unlike how my son did. Indeed, like that first night with my son, I am going to be making history. I will have one more soul learn the “Joy of Creation”.  
—————————————————  
David struggles and stumbles, his footsteps unsteady and weak. Yet he trudged on. There was one thing that was on his mind: Henry.  
He had made a grave mistake, showing his father the Flipside. He knew his father was bad, but he didn’t think that he’d kill people like the nice trapeze lady from the circus or the three kids from the next town, or the teen in the next town after that. He didn’t know!   
David collapses onto the ground, feeling physically drained despite the lack of a body. A feeling of regret nearly crushed him, almost stunning him entirely.  
Yet he trudged on.  
David frowned as he saw the night sky slowly begin to brighten. Oh no, he was almost out of time! David, despite his weakness, forced himself to get up and started running. He knew had to find his father. He had to stop him before he hurt more people, before more people became like him.  
He ran as much as he could, trying to ignore the growing weight of regret inside of him.   
As he was running, David could see the color of the sky brighten, and knew that he had to hurry. He’d been trying to find his father for the past two years since he’d been abandoned by him. His body tossed carelessly into a car driven into a deep river. While he had been able to keep track of him the first two months since his abandonment, Henry soon traveled too far away for him to reach over night. He doesn’t know what evil things he’s done to people, but he’s certain that he should try to stop him.  
David freezes as he feels sunlight hit filter through his translucent body. A grim expression forms on his face as he feels himself begin to disappear. He remembers the first few times this would happen. He would scream in anger, unable to reach his father in time to stop him. Now he just accepts his fate, knowing that he couldn’t reach him this night.   
David gazes wonderingly at the horizon, which is starting to explode in color. He knows that somewhere out there, his father was terrorizing kids and ruining families. David knew that he had to stop him. It was, what his father would say, his legacy.  
As he faded away, he quietly said something to himself. “Don’t worry, father… I’m coming to find you.”  
After that, he melts away from the sun, and fades away like the night. He knew that once he returned to the night, he would do what he’s been doing the past two years.  
He was going to trudge on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, it’s the end of the story! I hope you guys enjoyed this story, it was a neat one to write! Oh, two big announcements. Firstly, I’m going out of country this Thursday, and as such I’m not going to be active on this site for a little over a week because of lack of internet. I know not a lot of people read this story, so how do you think I should get the word around? Should I just announce on my chat wall on Wattpad or should I put it in the one shot book since that’s what most people look at on here? You guys can tell me down below which way could be better.   
> Secondly, now that this project is out of the way, I can finally prepare for the secret project. I’ll try to get it ready in the next two-four weeks, as I want to make sure it’s good enough for you guys.   
> Anyways, thank you for sticking by with this story. I’m happy that I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback for it and that you guys enjoyed it so much. I hope you guys have a good day and a good reading! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Whoop, whoop! Repost!


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